The Luna’s Choice by Kat Silver

Chapter 143: Theo
I had gotten up early to spend a few hours in my office the next morning. I needed to dedicate some time to catch up on some business, both pack and professional. I trusted my people but had to put some time in while I could. I didn’t know when things would slow down enough to get back to a routine closer to normal.
Briggs knocked on the door about eight o’clock, coming and sitting across from me.
“We have the cellar room set up and ready to go,” he informed me. “I let Mina’s boss know she would be working on an important project with us for the time being. He promised her anything she needed. So, her lab is available if needed. He also offered to lend a lab assistant or two if we wanted. I’ll see what Mina thinks.”
I nodded absently. “Sounds good.”
“Jimmy should be here in about an hour for us to discuss Ayla’s security detail,” he continued. “We’ll need to reach out to the university if she’s going to be attending this semester. I doubt she’ll want a bodyguard hovering over her the entire time. So we’ll have to work with campus security, and I’d like to start running our own background checks now.”
“Yeah, that will need to be a priority,” I agreed.
“You okay, man?” Briggs asked. “Ayla still holding up okay?”
“What? Yeah,” I said, shaking myself out of my trance. “Just a lot going on.
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“You sure? You gotta let me know if things are getting to be too much, bro,” Briggs insisted.
“I know, I know,” I said. “I’m fine. Just trying to figure out our next step is all.”
“You and Ayla’s?”
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Theo, you heard Harden. You need to mark her soon,” Briggs reminded me. “And I’m not even saying that because of the whole Alpha mate thing. It’s going to drive you crazy if you wait much longer. Honestly, I thought you would have done it last night when we got home. So, what’s holding you back?”
I ran my hands over my face. Briggs was my best friend, but sometimes I wish he didn’t know me so well.
“I don’t want to push her, Briggs,” I explained. “Marking is… it’s extremely intimate, whether it’s during a public ceremony or not.”
“Why do you think she’s not ready for that?” he asked, confused. “You guys seem to be on the same page to me.”
I hadn’t told him what I saw when I found Ayla that night. It wasn’t something I wanted to relive. But I was anyway. Any time Ayla and I were alone. How could I tell him I was afraid to touch her like that right now? The last thing I wanted was for her to be reminded of his hands on her.
“He nearly raped her, Briggs,” I said quietly. He stiffened in his chair. “He was so close to… If I had been a few seconds later…”
“But you weren’t,” Briggs said firmly.
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“I know,” I replied. “But she and I both know what would have happened if I was. That image will haunt me for the rest of my life, man. I can only imagine what it’s doing to Ayla. I don’t want to push this on her. When I mark her, I don’t want him flashing through her mind. I don’t want him to f**king ruin this for her, too. The bas**rd has already taken so much from her.
“Has Ayla talked to you about it?” he asked.
“She just keeps saying she’s fine.” I said. “But she’s having nightmares. Kieran is stressed about it, too. His mood isn’t the greatest whenever we remember that night. He says Dasha is fine, but he can’t seem to shake the rage. I don’t want to keep questioning her if she’s not ready to talk about it. But I can’t push our mating until I’m sure she’s ready.”
“So, what are you going to do?” Briggs asked. “You can’t put it off much longer.”
“Yeah, I know,” I insisted. “I think I’m going to take her home over the weekend. I know everyone will be talking about the canceled ceremony, and I don’t want Ayla to have to deal with that. She wants to sell the house. She says Harry has tainted it. I’m hoping if we can go down and start clearing it out, it will help her move on.”
Briggs scratched his head. “Do you want me to have Mina talk to her?”
“No,” I insisted. “They’ll talk anyway. I hope Ayla opens up to her, but that information doesn’t need to come from anyone else.”